City Landmark – Proust’s Bed & the Grand Hotel, Cabourg, France
Marcel’s host. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This is the same bed on which Marcel Proust slept and the same window through which he would watch the sea outside. It is a cold and quiet day. The Delhi…
City Landmark – Victor Bros, Connaught Place
A quieter world. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Don’t cry for poor dear CP (Connaught Place). The colonial-era commercial district, that world of stately white columns and louvred windows, is now a 21st century muddle of uniformly similar…
City Landmark – The Oriental Fruit Mart, Connaught Place
The souvenir of the old CP. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Everything—except the fruits, the cookies, the protein chocolates and the wasabi peas—looks straight out of a time warp. The wood panelling, the display cabinets, even the floor,…
City Landmark – H&M Takes Over New Book Depot and ED Galgotia & Sons Booksellers, Connaught Place
The new boss. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Hennes and Mauritz have moved into New Book Depot and ED Galgotia & Sons Booksellers. On August 25 2016, the Swedish clothing multinational H&M opened its largest gleaming outlet in…
City landmark – The Abbey Bookshop, Rue de la Parcheminerie, Paris
The English abroad. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is a walking distance from Shakespeare and Company and refreshingly different from that touristy bookstore manned by cold attendants. The Abbey Bookshop in Paris’s Latin Quarter is crammed with…
City Landmark – The Ashok Hotel, Central Delhi
The power and the glory. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is exactly what a sprightly 60-year-old should be—a blend of gravitas and energy. The Ashok hotel in New Delhi’s Chanakyapuri area, which celebrates its 60th anniversary in…
City Landmark – Arundhati Roy’s Hotel, Cochin
The hotel of The God of Small Things. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] “Room numbers 313 and 327,” The man at the reception desk said. “Non-air-conditioned. Twin beds. Lift is closed for repair.” This is not true. Lift…
City Landmark – Faqir Chand and Sons, Khan Market
Not just another bookshop. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Historian Romila Thapar has visited this old family run bookshop in Khan Market. Author Gita Mehta talked of it in her book Snakes And Ladders: Glimpses Of Modern India….
City Landmark – Librairie Galignani, Rue de Rivoli
Better than Shakespeare & Company. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] No, not Shakespeare & Company. The best bookstore in Paris for readers in English is actually Librairie Galignani. Founded in 1801, it is the oldest English-language bookstore in…
City Landmark – Berkeley Books of Paris, Near San Francisco Book Company
The real Berkeley. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The silence is so intense that one’s own thoughts feel like noise. The Delhi Walla is at the Berkeley Books of Paris, one of the best secondhand English language bookstores…
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